The Drayton Valley Thunder were knocked out of first place in the AJHL South Division after two weekend road games.
The team started the weekend leading the division just one point ahead of the Canmore Eagles, but slid to second after a narrow 6-5 loss to the Drumheller Dragons in OT on Saturday and a 5-1 defeat against Canmore on Sunday.
November 7
Saturday’s action started with a goal by the Drumheller Dragons at 7:47. George Monaghan fired back for the Thunder, with assistance from Colson Ganser, at 16:37 to tie things up 1-1.
At 7:14 in the second, the Thunder’s Lachlan Staniforth was served a double minor for high-sticking, and the Dragons scored on the power play at 8:11 for a 2-1 lead.
Sixteen seconds later, Drayton Valley’s Caedem Emmett scored an unassisted goal while the Thunder were still down a man to tie it 2-2. Emmett bumped that to a 3-2 lead with another goal at 12:32, this time while on the man advantage. Oskar Aitken-Salmons and Colson Ganser assisted.
In period three, Monaghan scored again to double up on the Dragons 4-2. He was assisted by Ganser again.
The Drumheller Dragons shot to a 5-4 lead with back-to-back goals at 16:32 and 16:44, and another at 19:42. Then, with just eight seconds left in the game, the Thunder’s Taynton Lavender netted an unassisted goal for the eleventh-hour 5-5 tie.
The Drumheller Dragons scored in overtime to win 6-5. The Dragons also outshot the Thunder 41-32.
November 8
Sunday’s game was not as close a match, with the Canmore Eagles dominating first-period action for a 2-0 lead. Less than 30 seconds into the second, that became a 3-0 lead.
At 0:49, Drayton Valley’s George Monaghan netted the Thunder’s only goal for the game, making it 3-1. Kyler Sorochak assisted.
The Eagles scored once more in period two and again in the third frame for the 5-1 victory.
The Drayton Valley Thunder are now second in the AJHL South Division with a record of 8-4-3-2, just two points behind the first-place Eagles.
The Thunder will look to bounce back during their three home games later this week. They host the Grande Prairie Storm on Nov. 12 and Nov. 13 for two 7 p.m. faceoffs, followed by the Olds Grizzlys on Nov. 15 at 2 p.m.
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